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The Mommy Lode

Editor’s Note: We thrilled to welcome Janeal Yancey as a new blog contributor. Yancey is a meat science program technician in the animal science department at the University of Arkansas. She attended Texas Tech as an undergraduate, where she studied animal science and was a member of the collegiate meats judging team. She then completed a Masters degree in meat science at Kansas State while coaching the meats judging team, and followed that with a Ph.D in meat science. In her blog called, “Mom at the Meat Counter,” she connects with non-farm moms to answer questions and help them feel more comfortable about the food they buy. She and her husband have a Simmental cow/calf operation. They also have an almost-5-year-old daughter, Vallie. Following is her first post:

You don’t realize until you become a mom that you have this great resource of other moms to help you. First you connect with moms your own age, then younger moms start coming to you for help and advice. It was great, I loved it.

First, the ladies at church began asking questions about food, and of course, my family used me as a resource. Then, random people at the grocery store were asking me questions. I thought it was really cool that moms were there to help each other.

I had a friend who was blogging at the time. I told him that I was a mom and I knew about meat, and I thought that might be something to write a blog about. He said, “Oh yeah, mom bloggers are huge. There are millions of mom-bloggers.” I thought I could put my thoughts out there for other moms to see, and they might begin to see me as a trusted, knowledgeable source.

A mom I met at gymnastics was my main inspiration. Here’s with very intelligent woman with a master’s degree and three young children. She wouldn’t take her kids to McDonald’s — ever — because she’d seen the movie, “Food Inc.”

Pretty much all her knowledge of the meat industry was derived from this one movie! I started thinking that there were a lot of other ladies out there just like her: intelligent moms who want to do the best by their kids, but they don’t have any idea what that is when it comes to food. When they try to find information online, they get so much conflicting information that they just give up.

They want to get information from trusted friends and people they know. Through my blog, I try to open myself up and be out there so people can get to know me a little bit. After we’ve developed that “online rapport,” they’ll feel confident that the information I’m providing is factual and based on research. And they’ll know I don’t have a hidden agenda like so many other online sources.

That’s what I’m trying to accomplish with my blog, “Mom at the Meat Counter.” If I help clear up even a few misconceptions, this effort will be worthwhile. Remember that smart mom from my gymnastics class? She recently posted a picture on Facebook of herself and her kids eating at McDonald’s. I’m not promoting fast food, but I don’t want people not be scared of their food, either. By reading my blog, she now has a more balanced view of food than what she saw on Food Inc. Take a look and let me know what you think!

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About the Author:

Janeal Yancey

| Dr. Janeal Yancey a meat science program technician in the animal science department at the University of Arkansas. She attended Texas Tech as an undergraduate, where she studied animal science and was a member of the collegiate meats judging team. She then completed a Masters degree in meat science at Kansas State while coaching the meats judging team, and followed that with a Ph.D in meat science. In her blog called, “Mom at the Meat Counter,” she connects with non-farm moms to answer questions and help them feel more comfortable about the food they buy. She and her husband have a Simmental cow/calf operation.